Dragons of Autumn Twilight follows a pattern with the other novels in its series, Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning, as they all start with Dragons, followed by the a series of seasons, Autumn, Winter, and Spring, as well as a series of time, Twilight, Night, and Dawning.

Margaret Weis includes allusions to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, one of her favorite stories. References include But there was something disquieting about him—secret, silent, self-contained, and solitary as an oyster and The fate of mankind is my business, turning the quote from meaning good to meaning harm.

Numbered "S1," the module was the first in the "S" (for "Special") series of modules. It was followed by S2: White Plume Mountain, S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Although part of a series for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the four modules had no connecting plot or theme. Tomb of Horrors is one of the most famous Dungeons & Dragons modules. It was also the first module to include a numbered series of drawings, each of which would be shown to the players upon entering a certain area or encountering a certain fate.